CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women's basketball team kicked off the 2022-23 season on Monday night with an 81-41 victory over Carolina University inside the Templeton Center. Sophomore guard Mara Neira led the Blue Hose with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including five threes. Fifth-year senior Bryanna Brady tallied eight points and 14 rebounds in the contest.
FINAL SCORE: Presbyterian 81, Carolina University 41
LOCATION: Templeton Center (Clinton, S.C.)
RECORDS: Presbyterian (1-0) | Carolina University (0-2)
Scoring the Game
- The Bruins scored the game's first five points on Monday before Sonia Sato and Brady answered with four in a row for PC. The guests extended the lead to 10-4 to take the six-point advantage at the media break. PC used a 7-2 burst to cut the deficit to 12-11 with 3:36 to play in the opening stanza. Brady had a late second chance layup before a three from the Bruins gave the guests a 15-13 lead after one.
- The two teams traded buckets in the opening minute. A Bruin layup gave the guests a 19-15 edge with 9:07 to play in the second quarter. The Blue Hose responded in a big way with a 16-0 run over the next six minutes to take a 31-19 lead with 3:16 to play in the first half. The Bruins chipped into the deficit with three unanswered before a 4-0 spurt in the final thirty seconds gave the Blue Hose a 35-22 halftime lead.
- The Bruins cut the deficit to 10, 37-27 in the opening minute before a three-point play from Ashley Carrillo pushed the lead to 40-27. The Blue Hose closed the final 6:37 on a 23-4 run highlighted by three straight threes from Neira to give the hosts a 63-31 lead after three frames.
- After the Bruins tallied the first bucket of the fourth, PC responded with a 9-0 run to regain a 39-point lead at 72-33 with 6:16 to play. Neira and Carrillo added an 8-0 run following a guest jumper as the Blue Hose finished off an 81-41 season-opening win.
Players of the Game
- Neira led the Blue Hose with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting as she buried a team-high five threes. Carrillo chipped in with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting as the freshman pulled down five rebounds. Brady led the way on the glass with a career-high 14 boards. Tilda Sjökvist paced PC with five assists. Denasia Mitchell led the Bruins with 14 points while Caliyana White added 13 for Carolina University. Ashley Roberts totaled a team-high eight rebounds off the bench and Mitchell had a team-high four helpers.
Stats of the Game
- The Blue Hose posted a 44.9% (31-of-69) from the field as Carolina University shot 34.0% (17-of-50) on Monday night. PC buried nine threes compared to six from the Bruins. PC went 10-of-15 from the line and Carolina University was 1-of-11 at the charity stripe. Presbyterian outrebounded the Bruins 48-30 led by Brady's 14 rebounds. PC's bench outscored the Bruins 33-10 led by Carrillo with 14. The Blue Hose forced 24 turnovers compared to just committing 14.
Notables
- Brady tallied her first 10+ rebounding performance of her Blue Hose career as she totaled 14 rebounds with seven on the offensive and seven on the defensive glass.
- Niera is the first Blue Hose player to make 70% of her threes with a minimum of seven attempts since 2019 when Kacie Hall when 7-of-9 against Hampton. The Galicia, Spain native went 5-of-7 in the contest.
- The Blue Hose tallied their third season-opening win in DI history and the first since the 2019-20 season when PC down SCSU 70-49 in Orangeburg.
- PC improves to 8-0 under Alaura Sharp when scoring 80+ points.
- The Blue Hose had a balanced scoring attack as all 12 players who saw time on Monday tallied points for PC led by Neira with 23.
- Carrillo, Sjökvist, Aubrie Kierscht, Dennaye Hinds, and Natalie Herrin all made their collegiate debuts for the Blue Hose on Monday night.
Up Next
The Blue Hose continue their season-opening three-game homestand on Friday at 6:30 p.m. as Furman travels to Clinton. The non-conference battle with the Paladins will be shown on ESPN+.
